Volunteers sought to read news on the radio

Have you ever thought being on the radio might be fun? Here’s your chance to reach more than 600 listeners in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

Northern Illinois Radio Information Service (NIRIS) needs volunteer radio readers to read newspapers and magazines to people who are print-impaired.

NIRIS is broadcast on a sub-carrier channel of WNIJ/FM (89.5), a Northern Illinois University public service station, and was established in 1979 in DeKalb, Ill. NIRIS now has its headquarters in Rockford, with studio facilities in both Rockford and DeKalb.

NIRIS is also a member of Illinois Radio Information Service, Inc., and the International Association of Audio Information Services. NIRIS listeners must have a pre-tuned SCA (Subsidiary Communications Authorization) receiver to pick up the closed-circuit broadcast, and these are loaned free to those eligible to receive them.

The broadcast schedule includes 23 local and regional newspapers, along with several national newspapers, books and programs of special interest, all read by volunteer readers. Opportunities throughout the day are to broadcast live, or various recorded programs air in the evening or on the weekend. Programs are usually aired weekly and are one to two hours long.

To receive a volunteer application, contact Cindy Lynn Ostergard at (815) 972-2955 or clostergard@niu.edu in the Rockford area or Doug Herrington in the DeKalb area at (815) 753-0076.